DUBAI — The United Arab Emirates' General Civil Aviation Authority confirmed on Tuesday that it had opened a formal investigation into Flydubai over allegations that a co-pilot attempted to deliberately crash an aircraft. The carrier said it was cooperating fully.

Reports published this week alleged that the co-pilot, identified in local media as Machchhar, planned to steer a jet into a Tel Aviv skyscraper and that an engine shutdown was suspected during the incident. Flydubai said passenger safety had not ultimately been compromised and that the crew member in question was no longer flying.

The GCAA said its probe would examine cockpit procedures, pilot mental-health screening and crew vetting across the fleet. The authority added that it was coordinating with aircraft manufacturer Boeing and had requested flight-data and cockpit-voice recorder material relevant to the flight.

The allegations drew immediate attention in Israel, where officials have long treated threats to Tel Aviv's high-rise districts as a security priority. A spokesperson for Israel's Airports Authority said it was monitoring the Emirati investigation but had received no operational warning tied to the case.

Paul Hayes, an aviation-safety analyst at Ascend by Cirium, said deliberate pilot acts were extremely rare but had reshaped cockpit-screening rules after previous disasters. Regulators will face pressure to demonstrate that psychological vetting in the Gulf matched international standards, he added.